VIA Rail

[kEiThZ]

I don’t applaud Metrolinx very iften, but I very much like their approach to detailed, discoverable business cases. If we had similar on the table for HFR, we would know what we are debating.

Yes it would be nice to have a detailed business case put out. And I have been critical before of the government for not being more forthcoming. But the lack of a public business case is not an excuse to engage in concern trolling. You know as well as I do, that all this does is give license to those who want nothing more than to kibosh the whole thing.

I can see it now. Some CPC candidate in a Lakeshore riding this November. "We're going to cancel HFR because all it does is serve those urban elites in Toronto and Ottawa."

 

[cplchanb]

Yes it would be nice to have a detailed business case put out. And I have been critical before of the government for not being more forthcoming. But the lack of a public business case is not an excuse to engage in concern trolling. You know as well as I do, that all this does is give license to those who want nothing more than to kibosh the whole thing.

I can see it now. Some CPC candidate in a Lakeshore riding this November. "We're going to cancel HFR because all it does is serve those urban elites in Toronto and Ottawa."

That's the biggest problem with via being a crown Corp. It's tied to the political whim of the governing party. The cpc candidate will argue against hfr simply because it's funded by the liberals right now

 

[drum118]

July 14
The Ocean Train at Halifax Station with power shut down. To start service in Aug

 

[Bordercollie]

July 14
The Ocean Train at Halifax Station with power shut down. To start service in AugView attachment 335027View attachment 335028View attachment 335029View attachment 335026

Not being able to use the container port to wye the train, how are they going to turn the train when it gets to Halifax?

 

[Urban Sky]

Not being able to use the container port to wye the train, how are they going to turn the train when it gets to Halifax?

Step 1: Push train somewhere with a track available to run around the train.
Step 2: Detach locomotives.
Step 3: Have locomotives run around the train.
Step 4: Attach locomotives at the opposite end of the train.
Step 5: Push train back to the station track.

 

[Bordercollie]

Step 1: Pull train somewhere with a track available to run around the train.
Step 2: Detach locomotives.
Step 3: Have locomotives run around the train.
Step 4: Attach locomotives at the opposite end of the train.
Step 5: Push train back to the station track.

Lol.

If it was that easy why were they going to cancel the train to Halifax for not being able to use the port?

 

[Urban Sky]

Lol.

If it was that easy why were they going to cancel the train to Halifax for not being able to use the port?

They weren't. The service was temporarily suspended since March 2020 because of an ongoing global pandemic, but it was already announced a few months before that that the trainset would be converted by November 2020 to perform exactly the procedure I outlined in my previous post.

 

[Bordercollie]

They weren't. The service was temporarily suspended since March 2020 because of an ongoing global pandemic, but it was already announced a few months before that that the trainset would be converted by November 2020 to perform exactly the procedure I outlined in my previous post.

They weren't. The service was temporarily suspended since March 2020 because of an ongoing global pandemic, but it was already announced a few months before that that the trainset would be converted by November 2020 to perform exactly the procedure I outlined in my previous post.

My apologies for missing your post, but what modifications to the trainset were required?

 

[Urban Sky]

My apologies for missing your post, but what modifications to the trainset were required?

Not sure what you are apologizing about, but maybe it's easiest to explain like this:

Have you ever played with a wooden toy railway (like from Brio)? If yes, what happens if you take a car and turn it around - will it still connect with the rest of the train?

Just like with the magnets used as cupplers for that toy train, the Renaissance cars are configured in a way which prevents you from taking a car within a train consist and reversing its orientation at will. But whereas magnets have thankfully only two different polarities, the couplers used by the Renaissance cars come in four different variants (M, F, Q and A) and any of them only matches with only one of the four types (M<=>F, Q<=>Q and A is just a standard American coupler). Add to that the questions of seat orientation (which basically can't be changed) and electrical wiring and you only start to appreciate what an operational nightmare these trains are...

 

[Bordercollie]

Not sure what you are apologizing about, but maybe it's easiest to explain like this:

Have you ever played with a wooden toy railway (like from Brio)? If yes, what happens if you take a car and turn it around - will it still connect with the rest of the train?

Just like with the magnets used as cupplers for that toy train, the Renaissance cars are configured in a way which prevents you from taking a car and reversing its orientation at will. But whereas magnets have thankfully only two different polarities, the couplers used by the Renaissance cars come in four different variants (M, F, Q and A) and any of them only matches with only one of the four types (M<=>F, Q<=>Q and A is just a standard American coupler). Add to that the questions of seat orientation (which basically can't be changed) and electrical wiring and you only start to appreciate what an operational nightmare these trains are...

So...they are going to pull the train backwards and move the park car to the transition car? So how will they turn the park car? Is there a wye for that?

 

[Urban Sky]

So...they are going to pull the train backwards and move the park car to the transition car? So how will they turn the park car? Is there a wye for that?

In absence of a wye anywhere southeast of Truro, there will no longer be a Park car on the consist.

 

[drum118]

To the rear of the train there is a yard that the locomotives can do a run around to connect to the rear.

The rear Park car will be behind the loco's going to Montreal unless they get permission from a container yard that has a loop track if no loading/off loading taking place at the time to turn it around.

I stand to be corrected, but when I was here last the last tine there was a y, but gone now,

CN yard is plug full with 2 GE C44-9W shut down in it, No container ship in Halifax today. The yard was very empty the last time I was here.

 

[roger1818]

Step 1: Push train somewhere with a track available to run around the train.
Step 2: Detach locomotives.
Step 3: Have locomotives run around the train.
Step 4: Attach locomotives at the opposite end of the train.
Step 5: Push train back to the station track.

You will notice in the oritinal post that the locomotives are now back to back (cabs facing out) to facilitate this operation, so that when they run around the train, there is still a cab facing forward:

View attachment 335027

To the rear of the train there is a yard that the locomotives can do a run around to connect to the rear.

The rear Park car will be behind the loco's going to Montreal unless they get permission from a container yard that has a loop track if no loading/off loading taking place at the time to turn it around.

I stand to be corrected, but when I was here last the last tine there was a y, but gone now,

CN yard is plug full with 2 GE C44-9W shut down in it, No container ship in Halifax today. The yard was very empty the last time I was here.

Although, looking at the photos you originally posted, it doesn't look like there is a park car at either end of the train:

View attachment 335029
View attachment 335026

 

[smallspy]

My apologies for missing your post, but what modifications to the trainset were required?

None were necessary.

The Renaissance equipment - in its previous guise as the aborted Nightstar trans-Chunnel overnight train - was designed from the outset to be bidirectional (sleeper corridors notwithstanding). And it didn't lose that capability with its modification and introduction to service in Canada.

The Budd equipment is in the same boat - with the exception of the tail-end Park car, all of the cars are more-or-less ambivalent to their direction of travel.

Dan

 

[roger1818]

None were necessary.

The Renaissance equipment - in its previous guise as the aborted Nightstar trans-Chunnel overnight train - was designed from the outset to be bidirectional (sleeper corridors notwithstanding). And it didn't lose that capability with its modification and introduction to service in Canada.

I respectfully disagree. The Nightstar trains were designed to be unidirectional, as being overnight trains, they had plenty of time to turn them around during the day while being stored in a yard. From a passenger perspective, most of the cars are agnostic to the direction, but as @Urban Sky said, the couplers and wiring are directional. The big exception are the coaches, as the seats all face in the same direction, so unless you want to have everyone face backwards in one direction, that is a problem.

The Budd equipment is in the same boat - with the exception of the tail-end Park car, all of the cars are more-or-less ambivalent to their direction of travel.

That is true, but they didn't use much HEP (Budd) equipment on the Ocean prior to COVID. This picture I took in 2018 shows only 2 HEP cars (one of which was a Park car).

Whereas this recent photo posted by @drum118 seems to show 4 HEP cars, and no park cars:

View attachment 335029